I remember the first time I saw my heavy metals test results. Black bars, representing my levels of various metals, extended into the yellow and read toxic ranges. There were two metals that shot beyond the rest: lead and mercury. My rheumatologist glanced down at the test results, then at me, and said "lead and mercury together are lethal in 100% of mice." Now, I am not a mouse. But, this illustrates the toxicity of these two metals. With mold toxicity gaining attention (deservedly so), it is important not to forget about these 2 common toxins that wreak havoc on your health. So, what exactly do they do?
Lead
My late rheumatologist once told me “there is no safe level of lead.” Lead is one of the most problematic heavy metals, especially in children with ADHD. Lead is a poison to many body systems. One of the most prominent of which is the neurological system. Any level of lead can create cognitive and motor function changes.
Symptoms of lead toxicity in the neurological system include:
Hyperactivity Behaviors: includes attention deficits, aggression, and defiant behaviors.
Cognitive Decline: the pediatric population is especially vulnerable to these effects. In children, rising lead levels has been directly linked to decreases in IQ. In any population, lead toxicity can create the following cognitive symptoms:
Reading disabilities
Language disruptions
Decreased verbal & visual memory
Delayed processing speed
Disruptions of executive functioning
Disruption of Motor Function: this includes disturbances in fine motor function, disruption of hand eye coordination, decreased walking speed, balance problems, tremors, muscle weakness, and increased risk for Parkinson’s Disease.
Diseases of Brain & Nerves: Peripheral neuropathy (numbness and tingling of extremities) is a common feature of lead toxicity. Seizures and alteration of brain structure or function (known as encephalopathy) can also occur.
Mood Disturbances: Lead can interfere with levels of neurotransmitters promoting anxiety, depression, irritability, and panic attacks, and insomnia.
Lead can also have significant impact on a variety of other systems in the body
Fatigue: a prominent feature of lead toxicity, subsequent to its interruption of cellular functioning.
Cardiovascular: increases risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, and elevated blood pressure.
Respiratory: can increase risk of Obstructive Lung Disease
Renal: lead is toxic to kidneys
Reproductive: lead can damage reproductive organs
Integumentary: lead can create joint and muscle pain
Gastrointestinal: lead can promote abdominal discomfort and loss of appetite
Hematological: lead can contribute to anemia
Metabolic: lead can increase susceptibility to gout
Immune: lead can increase risk of cancer
Metabolic: lead can promote nutrient deficiencies, which can lead to secondary symptoms.
Clearly, lead has far reaching effects on the body. In fact, adults with lead blood levels between 5-9 micrograms/deciliter were found to have increased risk of death from any cause, as well as higher rates of heart disease and cancer (1). Although the symptoms of lead may sound complex, I consider testing for it in any patient with extreme fatigue, brain fog, and neurological complaints.
Where Do You Get Exposed to Lead?
Lead paint or pipes found in old homes
Contaminated Water
Contaminated food or alcohol: including but not limited to spices such as ginger and tumeric, bone broth, green tea from international sources, cocoa powder, balsamic vinegar, sunflower products
Supplements: this is why buying quality supplements matters
Vinyl: in sources such as blinds and Christmas trees
Working in an industry that utilizes metals or lead
Cigarettes
Makeup
Paint: often pigments used on ceramics or dishes
I was exposed to lead when I lived in a 100 year old house with beautiful but flaking lead paint. If you live in a home built before the 70s, that has not been remodeled, you should be thinking lead. I've seen patients with affinities for antiques or ceramic dishes with high levels of lead. If you suspect lead in your environment, your local health department or an environemntal hygenist can help you determine the source. You cannot detox until you remove the source!
Mercury
Mercury is one of the most common elevated heavy metals that I see and it is as concerning as lead. Mercury exists in three forms: inorganic, elemental, and methylmercury. Inorganic is poorly absorbed and thus, less concerning as a source of toxins. While you may have been exposed to methylmercury or inorganic mercury, I common see mercury toxicity from consumption of contaminated fish and from dental fillings.
Methylmercury: This type of mercury is found as a preservative in some vaccinations and in fish. It is absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. It easily crosses the blood brain barrier and can reside in the brain for over 20 years. It also easily crosses the placenta and can be transmitted in utero. This type of mercury is excreted from the body through urine. The major organs it impacts are liver, kidneys, brain, spleen, and skin.
Elemental Mercury: This refers to mercury in a liquid or gas form. The most common source of exposure to elemental mercury is from dental amalgams, which off gas mercury. This type of mercury is also found in thermometers, fluorescent light bulbs, and batteries; exposure may occur when these things break. Elemental mercury also easily crosses the blood brain barrier. It is excreted primarily in stool and through respiration, but can also be eliminated in saliva, sweat, and breast milk. In addition to impacting the brain, liver, and kidneys like methylmercury does, elemental mercury also impacts the thyroid gland, gastrointestinal tract, and organs of sexual reproduction.
Like lead, chronic mercury toxicity can create symptoms of profound fatigue. Because it easily crosses the blood brain barrier, mercury also has a significant impact on the neurological system.
Here are some of the impacts of mercury on the Neurological system:
Inhibition of Myelin: the material that surrounds nerve fibers and transmits electrical signals so that nerves are able to fire.
Lower IQ: This is observed in exposed children alongside decreased school performance as well as decreased learning, attention, and motor functions associated with learning.
Vision Changes: changes in visual memory and visual-motor coordination
Sensory Changes: associated with changes in sensory perception of vibration and neuropathies. Mercury toxicity may also diminish hearing, taste, or smell.
Motor Changes: associated with slowed reaction time, poor coordination, tremors, muscle weakness and difficulty walking (known as ataxia).
Cognitive Changes: associated with diminished reading skills and word recognition. Mercury can additionally create problems with memory and concentration.
Mood Changes: Mercury requires a functioning methylation pathway to be efficiently excreted. The methylation pathway helps your body make neurotransmitters involved in reward and happiness. In the presence of mercury, this pathway is hijacked to help detoxify mercury and can lead to imbalances in neurotransmitters. Additionally, mercury independently inhibits certain enzymes involved in the degradation of excitatory neurotransmitters. The result is that mercury can contribute to anxiety, depression, paranoia, irritability, insomnia, and hypersensitivity to stimuli.
Mercury is also a potent endocrine disruptor. Here are some of the impacts it can have on your hormone system:
Increased Risk of Insulin Resistance: Mercury can promote elevated blood glucose and decreased sensitivity to insulin as well as interfere with carbohydrate metabolism. All conditions are associated with elevated body weight.
Interference of Thyroid Function: Can promote hypothyroid conditions by decreasing conversion of free T4 to the more active form of thyroid hormone free T3. Mercury can also promote autoimmune thyroid disease by its interference with optimal immune function.
Adrenal Interference: Adrenal glands are pyramidal shaped glands that sit atop your kidneys and help your body respond to stress. They are also involved in functions of daily physiology, such as regulating blood sugar and blood glucose. These glands are regulated by a network in the brain called the hypothalamic-pituitary axis. Mercury can interfere with signaling in this network as well as create inflammation in the actual adrenal glands leading to suboptimal function. Practically, this looks like extreme fatigue.
Disruptions in Cortisol Patterns: One of the hormones secreted by the adrenal glands is cortisol. Because mercury can interfere with adrenal function, it can also lead to disruptions in cortisol levels. Such disruptions have a significant impact on many parameters of health.
Additionally, mercury may impact the gastrointestinal system in the following ways:
Changes in Microbiome: the microbial balance of good, bad, and neutral bacteria in our intestines is paramount in maintaining the health of the gastrointestinal system, immune system, nervous system, and almost every other system in the body. Mercury may increase the levels of harmful bacteria in the gut and promote the development of antibiotic resistance.
Interference with Digestion: Mercury has potential to decrease production of digestive acids in the stomach and decrease production of digestive enzymes by interfering with pancreatic function.
Increased Sensitivity to Antibiotics: can increase the amount of antibiotics absorbed gastrointestinally.
The immune system is also impacted by mercury in the following ways:
Promotes Immune Reactivity & Autoimmunity: Mercury can abnormally activate the immune system leading to the development of allergies and the production of antibodies involved in autoimmune disease.
Immune Suppression: Mercury can also suppress the immune system, making individuals more susceptible to infections such as Lyme Disease.
Nutritional depletions: Mercury can deplete many nutrients through the damage it inflicts on intracellular machinery. Additionally, detoxifying any type of heavy metal requires a large amount of nutrients. These nutrients are key to optimal immune function. Some of the most common nutrients depleted by mercury are zinc, magnesium, and vitamin C.
Mercury also impacts skin. I often see the effects of mercury in patients (and at one point in myself) manifesting as inflammatory acne. Here are some other ways it can disrupt skin health.
Decreased Skin Health: Mercury can interfere with skin health in a variety of ways. It may deplete nutrients important for maintaining skin barrier, impair enzymes needed to maintain healthy skin, and inhibit collagen synthesis. Mercury also increases oxidative stress in the body which can often be manifested in skin.
Impaired Wound Healing: Mercury can slow the body’s repair mechanism. Depletions of nutrients necessary for repair also contribute to delayed wound healing.
Beyond these individual systems, mercury has other far reaching impacts on the body including:
Chronic Fatigue: mercury is capable of inducing immunological changes consistent with those seen in chronic fatigue syndrome.
Malaise: headaches, joint pain, muscle pain, loss of appetite.
Increased Blood Pressure: mercury does this by oxidizing blood vessels and cholesterol.
With its extensive sources of environmental exposure and far reaching impacts on the body, mercury toxicity should be considered in any person with chronic illness.
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